| | | | | | | Hello. Today we're taking a closer look at the diplomatic efforts to reach a new truce deal between Israel and Hamas, both in the UN Security Council in New York, and at the negotiation table in Cairo. Meanwhile, Andrew Harding reports from the North of France, where people are still risking their lives trying to cross the English Channel. Finally, read until the end if you want to hear the Earth cracking. |
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| | | | Top of the agenda | | Behind the diplomatic efforts for a new Gaza truce | | | | Diplomats are expected to vote at the United Nations Security Council chamber today. Credit: Reuters |
| | For a third day, we're reporting on an upcoming vote in the UN Security Council over a call for "urgent humanitarian pauses" in Gaza. The discussion of the draft resolution, put forward by the United Arab Emirates, had once again been postponed. Behind the scenes, diplomats are negotiating over the text, trying to find a formulation that won't be vetoed by the US - the only member state that voted against a previous resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire. Our live page will keep you up to date. Meanwhile, the US says "serious" negotiations are taking place in Cairo, where Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh is taking part in the talks. On Wednesday evening, a senior Palestinian official told our correspondent Rushdi Abu Alouf the day's meetings in the Egyptian capital had "ended without results". Israel insists it will not end the war until Hamas is dismantled. | | • | Fresh tunnel claims: Israel's military says it has discovered a network of tunnels in the heart of Gaza City that are connected to the homes of Hamas's senior leaders. Here's what we know about the underground structures. | | • | The call to get families out: Dr Lubna Hadoura, a Scots-Palestinian surgeon whose family are stuck in Gaza, is calling on the UK government to help them escape the war zone. | | • | Red Sea conflict: Retailers such as Ikea are warning of product delays as Yemen's Houthi rebels attack vessels on the Red Sea trade route, forcing cargo ships to take the longer route around Africa's Cape of Good Hope. |
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| | | | | | World headlines | | • | War in Ukraine: The Ukrainian military says it's "holding back the enemy" in the battle for the eastern town of Avdiivka. You can follow developments and ask questions to our correspondents on our live page. | | • | Milei's first protests: Thousands of people have taken to the streets of Buenos Aires in rallies against new Argentinian President Javier Milei's austerity policies. | | • | Yellow card: Fifa and Uefa, the global and European football governing bodies, are "abusing a dominant position", a court has ruled in a case brought by backers of a proposed European Super League. "No-one expected this judgement to be so powerful," writes BBC Sport's Simon Stone. | | • | Barbie Impossible: Warner Bros Discovery and Paramount Global, two of Hollywood's "Big Five" studios, are in early talks to merge, according to multiple media reports. But the talks are believed to be at an early stage. | | • | Free at 70: An Oklahoma judge has exonerated Glynn Simmons, a man who was in prison for 48 years for a 1974 murder. He is the longest-serving inmate to be declared innocent in US records. Here's what he had to say. |
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| | AT THE SCENE | Calais, France | | With the migrants trying to cross the English Channel | | Border officials in the UK and France say the number of migrants illegally crossing the English Channel has seen a "really significant" drop this year. But along the cold dunes of France's northern coast, hundreds of people remain ready to attempt the dangerous journey. | | | | Andrew Harding, Paris correspondent |
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| | "Go, go, go." Despite the bitter cold and the occasional gust of drizzle, this was perhaps the last decent chance, of the year and maybe even of the entire winter, to attempt an illegal crossing. Hundreds of young men and a handful of women and children began dragging inflatable boats and outboard motors down past big, silhouetted rocks and the dark outlines of ruined World War Two German gun emplacements and on across the tide-rippled sands towards the sea. "Did you see that light?" In their sector on a long beach near Boulogne, four French gendarmes, masked and wearing green camouflage uniforms, stopped their foot patrol. |
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| | | | Beyond the headlines | | A successful disinformation campaign | | | | Researchers say the campaign probably comes from a "purpose-built tool for narrative laundering with links to the Russian government". Credit: Getty Images |
| A website founded by a former US Marine who now lives in Russia has fuelled a rumour that Volodymyr Zelensky purchased two luxury yachts with American aid money. The story is flat out false - the documents are forged, and the ships are still up for sale. But, as my BBC Verify colleagues explain, the campaign reached the US Congress and became part of the tense debate around military aid to Ukraine.
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| | | | Something different | | Seismic symphony | | You can listen to the activity that tore a fissure in Iceland's Reykjanes peninsula. | | |
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| | | | And finally... | | Vertigo-prone readers might want to avoid watching this video. After a vehicle tumbled over a cliff in California, a team of rescuers airlifted the driver to safety. The footage taken from the rope is dizzying, to say the least. |
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– Jules |
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